Page 41 - AA 2023 Year Book Website

Qatar

QATAR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MARKET SIZE & SHARE

ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS & FORECASTS (2023 - 2028)

Qatar Fruits and Vegetables The increase in the adoption of ad- system used in vertical farming, is gain-
Market Analysis vanced farming technologies, rise in de- ing popularity among Qatar farmers, es-
mand for organic fruits and vegetables, pecially in growing local fruits and veg-
The Qatari fruits and vegetable market and conducive government policies are etables with minimal water resources.
is projected to register a CAGR of 4.2% some of the factors driving the market
during the forecast period (2022-2027). growth for fruits and vegetables.
The impact of COVID-19 on food se- Many regional companies such as Ag-
curity in Qatar is less threatened when rico are venturing into domestic fruits
compared to other countries in the re- and vegetable cultivation by incor-
gion. The country performing well in porating advanced farming technolo-
ensuring food availability at affordable gies in order to make them available to
prices during the crisis with their sus- their consumers year-round and move
tainable technologies like hydroponics, towards less dependency on trade im-
aquaculture, vertical farming, aquapon- ports.
ics, and several other related green tech-
nologies has boosted the local produc- Increase in Adoption of High The Ministry of Municipality and En-
tion of fruits and vegetables. Technology Farming Practices vironment launched Qatari Vegetables
The Qatari agricultural sector has Qatar’s climate is characterized by low and Qatar Farms programs in coopera-
made significant progress in meeting lo- rainfall and high temperature. Despite tion with the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry. These have achieved significant
cal fruits and vegetables market require- these challenges, the country has made sales during the year 2020. The sales
ments and raising the level of self-suffi- tremendous efforts over the last few of Premium Qatari Vegetables reached
ciency due to the growing interest of the years by adopting sustainable and smart 4,565 tons compared to 2,740 tons in
government. The self-sufficiency of fresh agriculture techniques such as hydro- 2019, an increase of about 66%. The sales
fruits and vegetables in the country is to ponics, smart irrigation, and aquaponics of Qatar Farms for the 2020 season were
be attained with 35 strategic projects for that improved the optimum utilization of about 19,000 tons compared to 11,506
the production in protected facilities in- arable land and the quality of fruits and tons in 2019, an increase of about 64%.
tended to be introduced in the country. vegetables. Hydroponics, a predominant

QATAR’S AQUACULTURE SECTOR CONTRIBUTING

GREATLY TO FOOD SECURITY

Qatar has paid great attention to de- Al Mohannadi revealed that in 2022
veloping the aquaculture industry to in- over five million fish were hatched, in-
crease production and raise the percent- dicating that expanding in such projects
age of self-sufficiency in fish from other is done through establishing coastal fish
sources without resorting to excessive farms to fatten the fish fry produced by
use of fisheries. the center, thus contributing to achieving
food security.
Pursuing that purpose, Qatar estab-
lished the Aquatic and Fisheries Re- He stressed that the Aquatic and Fish-
search Center Ras Matbekh in Al Khor, eries Research Center, the biggest of
which was fully equipped with the latest its kind in the MENA region, achieved
technologies in aquaculture and entered all its environmental goals. He pointed
the actual production phase in 2022 and out that more than one million finger-
achieved several successes and goals. lings of Grouper and Yellowfin seabream He stated that the volume of produc-
were released into the sea to enrich the tion for the past year reached about two
Head of the Aquatic and Fisheries fish stock. In addition, the center also million small grouper, Shaam and Subaiti
Research Center Ibrahim Salman Al achieved its developmental goals, in- fish, about 4 million larvae of the van-
Mohannadi said that Qatar made great cluding producing around one million namei shrimp, and about 31,000kg of
achievements in aquaculture and shrimp fish larvae during 2022 and more than 6 shrimp.
farming. million shrimp larvae.
Al Mohannadi said that the center uses
He pointed out that the center suc- Al Mohannadi explained that the types the latest methods of fish technology and
ceeded in producing Rabbitfish - Safi, of aquatic organisms that are cultured the biofloc system in shrimp farming, de-
Grouper, and Yellowfin seabream - in the center include local fish, which scribing them as advanced farming sys-
Sha’am hatchlings using the best prod- are Hamour, Bream, Safi, and Subaiti tems, characterized by the use of small
uct of Grouper and Yellowfin seabream at and non-Qatari fish such as European quantities of new marine water, with the
the local level due to the great successes seabream and crustaceans like white- recycling of what is in the tanks, which
in hatching local fish in large quantities. legged shrimp, vannamei. achieves high quality of farming water.

Arab Agriculture 2023 39